What Caused The Explosion That Crippled Apollo 13? 

Recently picked up KSP and today I saw for the first time that they actually put "flying safe" into the loading screen. Just the best

One element to this story which is present in Lovell's book, but which you didn't mention - and is worth highlighting as it's yet another of the coincidences and minor failures that contributed to the explosion. When they were attempting to drain the tanks using the heaters whey were also monitoring the temperature within the tanks - this should have meant they would have noticed they were baking it at 500C... But they temperature sensors and monitor they were using was calibrates only to go up as high as the 27C they expected the thermostats to cut out at. So when the thermostats failed, and burned off the insulation - as far as the technicians could tell, the temperatures were precisely the 27C they were expecting - not the catastrophic 500C. If their thermometers could go higher than 27C, they'd have immediately know the tank was faulty. Just makes me thing of the Chernobyl series - "It's ... the maximum reading on low-limit dosimeters. They gave us the number they had...."

"Sir, we dropped the highly critical module, lots of brittle components in there." "Nah, it'll be fine."

Remember kids, redundancy is crucial in systems that are truly vital. Just remember to route all three of your redundant hydraulic control lines right next to each other so the occasional stray turbofan disc going trough your aircraft has a chance of slicing through all three of them in a single go!

That is the most detailed explanation I've ever heard for the Apollo 13 failure. Great job, as usual Scott.

i feel kinda proud for the humanity that we hit a million subscribers on this channel

The official report is really interesting. Any engineer should read it to understand just how simple things can add up to a huge problem. I always tell people they should read it but it’s pretty dry. This video is an excellent summary of events!

I worked for the company that built that thermostat that welded. The design engineer for the thermostat line had the same picture you showed on the wall of his cube as a reminder that limits are not to be exceeded. That example was used when customers would call and ask if they could be used at higher voltages/currents. Nearly all of the people who were working at that time had retired when I started, I wish I could have gotten first hand accounts of the aftermath.

I can’t believe fire in space look exactly the same as that in Minecraft

8:50 "Houston, we've had a problem here" Movie: Catastrophic explosion, shock from crew, drama Real life: 80's freeze frame and festive steel drum flourish

I can only imagine what the astronauts would have been thinking when the service module blew out! Disasters in space are scary stuff. Kudos to NASA for bringing everyone back safely! This mission is probably the most incredible point in the entire space program. Thank you Scott for explaining how it all happened in a way that's so easy to understand!

Can't you go over all the changes in Apollo 14 that never gets talked about

I’m surprised ground wasn’t monitoring heater current when they decided to use the heater to drain O2 tank 2. If they had been they would have seen that the heater was not cycling as it should have been, and probably caught the problem there. Alternatively, as has been mentioned elsewhere in the comment section, if the tank thermometer read above 80 degrees that most likely also would have worked to catch the problem. Of course with the benefit of hindsight it’s easy to be critical. The steps the crew and ground support took after the accident occurred were nothing short of incredible, and really spoke to how well they worked together and knew their spacecraft.

wow that was A lot of detail that I have never heard before. Great video Scott thank you and stay safe.

10:08 everyone gangsta til service module 106 gets hit by a ghast

I was a kid, was all over ever aspect of Apollo. Kepy an eye on it over the years. I am now 60. NEVER have I heard any detailed explanation of what happened, how and why. Also. You are scary smart. You smoothly went through every engineering detail like you built the tank and system. You have filled in an important blank of what happened in my youth. Very Impressed.

The LOX tanks were made at a Beechcraft plant north of Boulder ,Colorado. I knew one of the engineers and he gave exactly the same explanation. Well done it is rare these days for any media to get a story right by doing their homework such as you have. Well done Sir !

There was a temperature gauge on the launch pad to display the temperature inside the O2 tank heater assembly. During the boil off process the temperature inside the tank heater got up to more than 500F but unfortunately the temperature gauge only went up to 80F. The gauge was pegged all the way up to the top at 80 and so no one realized that the temperature inside the tank heater was up so high that it was damaging the insulation on the wires.

Bad teflon ruined my morning eggs so many times...no wonder they had problems with it on Apollo.

Scott you're just awesome. Thanks for going into such detail and helping us forget our current situation.

i never thought all those years ago when i was trying to get into orbit on the free version of KSP that i would still be watching your videos in the next decade

"But at 50+ atmospheres of pure oxygen..." yeesh

This channel might end up being my favorite channel on space and one of my top 3 channels on RU-vid in all categories. Definately the best walk thru of Apollo 13's tank issue. Thanks.

Just started watching but had to get my up vote and comment in to help you in the algos since the video is only 30 minutes old. .... and this is one of my favorite of your videos. Love this deep dive!

Scott is a valuable human resource. Live Safe mVm

Thanks, Scott. I really enjoyed the detail and clarity.

Scott, thanks for this video (and all of your others) a great description of the events. Well done and easy to understand

I just finally watched the movie yesterday, because of you mentioning it. And I was really curious about this, of course. Excellent timing.

One design deficiency was also that both oxygen (and hydrogen) tanks fed the fuel cells over a common manifold. No isolation valves, no check valves. You have one leak anywhere in the system, you will loose everything. If there had been the possibility to isolate the faulty tank, the outcome would've been less dangerous. Yes, the moon would've been lost. But there would've been enough oxygen in the good tank to return home. They later changed that for the J- missions and AFAIK the space shuttle not only had check valves between the tanks and the manifold, but also the possibility to switch to 'split plant' operation, i.e. feeding each FC from its 'own' tank and isolating them from each other. I still don't get why they didn't implement that in the first place. They used statistical methods to determine how often a system would fail in a given number of times, but overlooked that interconnecting independend units increases the failure rate. Strange...

Fantastic explanation, Scott. It's good to hear what really happened; that it wasn't just a 'spark' in the cryotank.

This is great thanks - feel like I’ve been waiting 50 years for a good explanation like this.

I always love the pictures/videos you're able to find to compliment what you're explaining!

I don't always test my rockets. But when I do, I do it in space.

I already knew what caused the explosion on Apollo 13 but I also knew that I'd learn a bunch of new and interesting details by clicking on this video because it's Scott Manly!

Scott, thank you for keeping me entertained in these times of isolation! Fly safe.

Scott, congratulations on 1 million subs, you deserve it. Thank you for this outstanding channel!

I was literally just looking for more info on this yesterday. Like a video of what stirring the tanks was like.

I challenge you to find an orkier space repair job than Apollo 13. "Oh no, vital systems of the ship blew up!" "Don't worry, we have some cardboard, plastic bags, and duct tape! We will be fine!"

VERY well researched Scott. GOOD JOB!

Wow! Never found an explaining that was so detailed and well presented! Great job as always!

I have no engineering background at all and found this engaging and fascinating, not to mention well-explained. Scott, thank you for your service to the rest of us who love space (and space history) but didn’t go to MIT.

Най-краткото и най-точно обяснение на случилото се с Аполо 13 . Както винаги страхотно видео . Respect.

Thanks Scott! This was one your most interesting videos - can't wait for the next one!

Scott, that’s the best explanation of this event and the lead up to it. You should be really proud of your work. Many thanks

Lovell/Kluger's explanation of this in the book of Apollo13 is almost as complete but contained one extra titbit you didn't mention: The pressure gauge. When the thermostats stuck shut (ohm's law - double the voltage, double the current, quadruple the power) to boil the LOx off, the pressure gauge should have alerted them that it was way high. The problem was the gauge topped out in normal use meaning the most basic way they could have detected this failure eluded them. The lesson here stands true in anything with a gauge: Always make sure the gauge can read higher than you expect it ever to need to! Thus endeth lesson 37 in the gospel of engineering according to me....

Well, I never really understood what was the cause of the explosion. Now I know, after 20 yrs! Thank you Mr. Manley!

Thanks for that Scott, superb detail as ever!

A great further (more detailed) insight into something I've been "studying" on & off for about a year now, out of total fascination for the Causation Factor(s) of the explosion. Thanks Scot. Great work.

when he adds the minecraft fire you know hes cultured

Thanks for the great videos in are extremely boring lockdown. fly safe people

Great video Scott! I love getting ready in the morning and getting my space fix all at once!

Scott, your video is the best technical explanation of the Apollo 13 oxygen tank failure I've ever seen. Thank you.

Wait so the tank failed a test on the ground and they just said "send it"?

Ground work: Empties to 92% History: Close enough, its not like this is rocket science. 😏

fantastic. i love learning about this kind of stuff. love all the photos, too. thanks for the great video!

Thank you for bringing these details to our attention. Great job.

I never really thought about the fact that the failure on the O2 tank was in fact caused by a piece of hardware that was later determined to be unnecessary.

I guess it's like aviation - fail to dot enough i's or cross enough t's and you're hating life.

This was much more detailed than most other videos. Thanks!

Well done! Detailed and informative with nice illustrations. Thank you, Scott.

Its because Tom Hanks was on that mission

Imagine damaging life-critical equipment and then putting it into crewed space vehicle anyway. What is this, soviet union QA standards? Pretty sure they had better. Geez.

An excellent rundown that I've been waiting to hear since the words "We've got a problem" were spoken. Thank you filling that long standing gap.

Brilliant summary Scott!

About 30 years ago, when I was working for IBM in the UK, they had an all-site meeting at a local convention center, and the guest speaker was none other than Jim Lovell, commander of Apollo 13. Whatever IBM had paid him to be there, it was money well spent. He gave an enthralling and inspiring account of the mission and the entire audience was hanging on every word.

Ah yes, enslaved oxygen breaking free.

An incredible story with the engineering details I always wanted. Scott, you are a master!

Always excellent videos! Thanks!

My wife is supercritical, she puts me under immense pressure...

I love how you say mun instead of moon.

Always great information from this channel.. thank you Scott. 😁👍

Thank you for a great explanation of something I have wondered about my whole life. I was a little boy when it happened. Everything I have heard about it since then has left me with more questions than answers. Thank you for finally clearing things up.

The BBC are doing a podcast series on this called ‘13 minutes to the moon’.

10:10 Minecraft fire animation

A very clear, enlightening video. Thanks, Scott!

Great video with detailed explanation. Thanks!

What a coincidence, just recently watched the 90's film starring Tom Hanks about this incident.

are you going to do all the tragedies that NASA/Roscosmos had on their respective anniversaries?

That was an excellent explanation of events. Thanks Scott!

Great video Scott! Love your channel

I was in an audience with where Jim Lovell was the speaker. True or not he said that they found that someone had dropped one of the components during construction and thats what caused the problem.

So if the oxygen is in a supercritical state, how do you measure the fullness of it?

this is the best explanation I've ever heard, this is amazing! Thanks Scott!!

Great work Scott! Love your work👍🏼

Comments: 8 I can count at least 23

First!

Another fantastic and informative video, thanks Scott!

Yes, that's the most comprehensive account of the catalogue of failures that led to the catastrophic explosion of that tank on Apollo13. Well presented.

another great video and so informative,well done and thanks Scott.Bill

That was so detailed and informative. Thank you!!!

Such a fascinating recount/explanation. Like any accident- there are almost always a myriad of small errors leading up to the incident. Very cool

You sure find a lot of cool stuff to share, and present it well!

Great explanation! This is why your engineering oriented viewers follow you. The ill fated Apollo 13 mission is one of those examples of how human ingenuity and capability for improvisation can work under pressure. It's fortunate it had a happy ending.

That was really informative! I'd never bothered to look into the particular details.

Well done and presented as always, thank you.

I keep re-watching videos that I know I've liked, and finding that I have to like them again. All your videos too.

Thanks a lot ! I've read a lot about the origin of this explosion but the all process remains unclear to me. Your explainations are awesome. Fly safe !

Excellent video, I really enjoyed the level of detail!

Fabulous and detailed Scott. Thanks a lot

Great as usual dear Scott